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On June 16, the last episode of "PRODUCE 101 Season 2" was broadcast, while 11 members of a new boy group who will debut soon have been determined. The program has gained a huge popularity, and it is expected that 11-member boy group Wanna One will create a sensation in the world of k-pop. However, not a few people in the k-pop industry are now blaming Mnet and the audition program. Do you know why? Check out what they have done to BoA and young trainees.

In the final episode, BoA took much time to open her mouth whenever she announced names of Wanna One's members. As I said before, it was not BoA's fault. Yeah, it was definitely the production crew's fault. They wanted to heighten tension and make viewers get absorbed in the program. BoA was just waiting for the production crew's signal to announce names of Wanna One's members.

The problem was that BoA hurt her ankle years ago and she's not in perfect condition yet. As she had to stand for a long time, her feet were killing her, and she even dropped down when the camera was not filming her. However, the production crew forced her to take more time to open her mouth and what she could do was to just stand there. Yeah, this is how Mnet usually does things. All the broadcasting company cares about are ratings.

Before "PRODUCE 101 Season 2" began to air, it was reported that the trainees were treated discriminatingly. F class trainees had to wait for 6 hours to be interviewed and they even had to eat rice alone without any side dishes just because they're F class trainees.

However, Mnet didn't even try to fix the problem. Instead, the production crew demanded to know who had leaked the situation outward. They put pressure on the trainees not to leak information to outsiders.

In this situation, the trainees and their agencies couldn't say anything because the broadcasting company is the stronger. Yeah, the trainees had to put up with all the things because they really wanted to debut and they needed Mnet's help to debut.

Do you think "PRODUCE 101 Season 2" was fair? Well, nobody in the k-pop industry thinks so. You know, if Mnet removes all the scenes of a certain trainee, it's impossible for him to receive many votes from viewers. Basically, the more a trainee is caught on cameras, the more viewers become interested in him.

The problem was that trainees from small and unpopular k-pop agencies were ignored by Mnet. They couldn't even get an opportunity to show off their charm. However, they couldn't make a complaint about it because, yeah, they're trainees from small agencies.

Well, I think Kang Daniel and Yoon Jisung are very talented and they deserve to be chosen as members of Wanna One, but it's an undeniable fact that Mnet gave them more chances to give off their charm because they belong to MMO Entertainment, a sister company of Mnet.

In addition, Mnet signed a two-year contract with the Wanna One members, which means they can't be back to their own agencies during the period. Well, I.O.I has made a one-year contract with Mnet but the broadcasting company wants to extend the contract period this time because it could be more profitable to the broadcasting company. Yeah, Mnet never cares about the future of the trainees or their agencies' situation. All it cares about is money.

<K-pop Secret Vol.4: The Reality of K-pop Idols>
K-pop Secret Vol.4 contains stories about the reality of k-pop idols. The author, who has been working as a k-pop journalist since 2010 gives you answers to some questions about the reality of k-pop idols such as “How much do k-pop stars earn?” “Why do k-pop agencies do sajaegi?” and “Why do k-pop idols leave their groups?”
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